The NBA regular season is poised to start a week to 10 days earlier beginning next season as part of scheduling changes planned in the leagues forthcoming new labor agreement with the National Basketball Players Association, according to league sources.Sources told ESPN that the 2017-18 campaign is earmarked to start in the Oct. 15 to Oct. 20 range -- up from Oct. 25 this season -- to create additional wiggle room that allows the leagues schedule makers to further reduce the number of back-to-backs and four-games-in-five-nights sets on the current schedule.To achieve this change will require a reduction in the preseason? schedule. Sources say the current eight-game maximum of exhibition games per team will be reduced to five or six preseason games per team in the new collective bargaining agreement.?Officials on both sides of the negotiating table have been optimistic for weeks that a new deal will be agreed to in advance of the Dec. 15 deadline for either the league or the union to opt out of its current 10-year labor pact.A new deal to avert a lockout in July 2017 and ensure several more years of labor peace has been expected since the summer, but NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a recent SiriusXM NBA Radio appearance that he has always regarded ?Dec. 15 as the real deadline for a new deal because of the opt-out provision.NBA teams are scheduled to play an average of 16.3 back-to-backs this season, down from 17.8 in 2015-16. That figure, along with the number of four-games-in-five-nights scenarios, should drop again noticeably thanks to the proposed schedule changes, as part of the leagues continuing efforts to prioritize player safety and lessen the physical strain of the regular season as much as possible. Cheap Grizzlies Jerseys .C. -- Glenn Howard needed an extra end to move into the Masters Grand Slam of Curling final. Cheap Stitched Grizzlies Jerseys . -- Catcher Brett Hayes has agreed to a $630,000, one-year contract with the Kansas City Royals, avoiding salary arbitration. http://www.wholesalegrizzliesjerseys.com/ .35 million, one-year contract that avoided salary arbitration. Plouffe batted .254 with 14 home runs and 52 RBIs in 477 at-bats last season, his second as a regular in the lineup. Cheap Grizzlies Jerseys Online . -- Teemu Selanne scored the first goal of his 22nd NHL season, and the Anaheim Ducks extended the best start in franchise history with their fifth straight victory, 3-2 over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. Marc Gasol Jersey . Vaives lawyer Trevor Whiffen claims the former 50-goal man wasnt provided with a copy of the claim beforehand and that he would not have agreed to the allegations made against the NHL had he been asked to review its contents. CHICAGO -- St. Louis Blues coach Ken Hitchcock got what he needed from his top players, and that was more than enough on opening night.Vladimir Tarasenko had two goals and an assist, and the Blues kicked off the season with a solid 5-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday.The guys that have been around did a number today, Hitchcock said. The guys that have been here before and know what its like to play in this building, know what its like to play against Chicago, they played really well today.Kevin Shattenkirk and Paul Stastny each had a goal and two assists for the Blues, who eliminated the Blackhawks in seven games in the first round of the playoffs in April. Jake Allen had 17 saves in his first game since he was handed the lead goaltending job with Brian Elliotts June trade to Calgary.St. Louis went 3 for 5 on the power play.I think that last two days in practice really helped us find our groove, said defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, who took over as captain after David Backes signed with Boston in the offseason. We kept it simple, try not to be overly complicated. Weve got a lot of guys who can shoot the puck. The big thing is putting the puck toward the net.Richard Panik and Ryan Hartman scored for Chicago, which struggled in the second period. Corey Crawford finished with 29 saves.The Blackhawks had five rookies in the starting lineup, and four players made their NHL debut. And they looked out of sync for much of the night.Theres definitely some learning going on, coach Joel Quenneville said. Well accept mistakes through hard work, because thats how you get better.Hartman put Chicago in front 2-1 with his first NHL goal at 13:57 of the second, but the Blackhawks were whistled for three penalties in a span of 1:34 late in the second. Captain Jonathan Toews was sent off for slashing with 2:06 left in the period, veteran center Artem Anisimov got called for hooking and defenseman Duncan Keith received a high-sticking penalty at 19:28.During the delay after the call on Keith, Tarasenko tied it at 2 wiith a wrist shot that beat Crawford on the goaltenders stick side.dddddddddddd The 24-year-old Tarasenko set career highs with 40 goals and 74 points last season.Hes proven to be a big-time player and obviously these games mean so much to us, Shattenkirk said. He is someone who just shows up in those big games.Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook saved a goal when he swept a bouncing puck off the line late in the second. But the Blues went ahead to stay on Stastnys power-play goal 55 seconds into the third off a rebound from Tarasenkos shot.Chicago had two power-play opportunities in the third, but it was turned away each time. Tarasenko then finished off the Blackhawks with an empty-netter with 1:06 remaining, and Scottie Upshall was credited with a second empty-netter on what looked like an own-goal for Chicago.We didnt do a whole lot of what we wanted to, Toews said. Our energy, our speed and our work ethic wasnt quite there. Weve got to regroup and try to come with that energy in that next one, and play a little bit smarter, too.Game notes RW Nail Yakupov played 10 1/2 minutes for the Blues. He was acquired in a trade with Edmonton on Friday. ... Blackhawks winger Marian Hossa remains stuck on 499 career goals. He assisted on Paniks goal in the first. ... Blackhawks D Niklas Hjalmarsson completed his suspension for charging Blues forward Ty Rattie during a preseason game on Oct. 1. D Michal Rozsival and C Dennis Rasmussen also were scratched. ... St. Louis scratched Rattie, D Carl Gunnarsson and LW Magnus Paajarvi. ... Olympic gymnastics champion Simone Biles got a standing ovation when she was shown on the videoboard during the first period. She acknowledged the cheering crowd with a wave.UP NEXTBlues: Host Minnesota on Thursday night.Blackhawks: Visit Nashville on Friday and then host the Predators on Saturday night.---Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenapCheap NFL JerseysWholesale JerseysWholesale NFL JerseysJerseys From ChinaWholesale NFL JerseysCheap NFL JerseysCheap Jerseys ' ' '